Access 2013 - Dbase (.dbf) Table Import option

Microsoft no longer sells Access 2010/Office 2010 at retail. Yes, that's true.  It's also true that any existing licensed copies of Access 2010 still work. It's also true that Microsoft DOES still make Access 2010 available in many enterprise licensing agreements. I know that because the company for which I work installed Office 2010 less than 6 months ago.

Perhaps Amazon or another vendor might do in a pinch, if you really have to purchase the retail 2010 version just to work with dbf files. On the other hand, perhaps a less expensive option would be to use Excel to work with your dbf files, as has been suggested more than once here. That would allow you to keep using your newly purchased Access 2013 for other tasks.

Frankly, I'm a bit puzzled at the timing of some of the complaints here.

DBF support was included in Access in previous versions, up through Access 2010. That version was released, oh, four years or so back. So, here I am wondering if you all actually used Access over the last four years, or if none of you actually did anything with dbf files until Access 2013 was released last year. Is it the case that you're suddenly finding you can't do something you didn't do before? Did you really buy and install Access 2013 without ensuring it would do what you need?

Or is it actually the case that you all DID work with DBF files all along in one of the earlier versions? If so, why not just continue to do so using the same Access version you used all along for that purpose? Did you somehow get confused and uninstall your prior Access versions, throw away or delete the install files, and replace those older versions with Access 2013, all of that without realizing you were going to regret those actions? Or is it the case that we're all just complaining about a potential issue that doesn't impact anyone who still has a licensed copy of Access 2010 installed?

I agree that, if you have never used an earlier version of Access, but then you just recently purchased Access 2013 for the first time last month, and found out that it doesn't support DBF files, that would be disappointing. But that's not what I am actually hearing. What I am hearing is that long time users who worked with DBF files and depend on Access to do that have learned they won't be able to continue doing that with the newest version of Access, i.e. 2013.

So, what I'm wondering, again, is whether you failed to do your due diligence, uninstalled all prior versions of Access--deleting or destroying your install files in the process--and only learned about the deprecation of DBF support after it was too late? Is that really what happened? Is that why you all are so unhappy? If so, I suggest there is a bit of over-reaction going on.  If that happened you have no one to blame for failing to perform due diligence but yourselves. It's not like Microsoft hid the deprecations from you. Actually, if your IT made the upgrade without doing that due diligence on behalf of their users, your beef is with them, not Microsoft.

Otherwise, I reiterate, there are options open to you and you can easily adopt one of them.

I'm not saying deprecation of support for DBF files in Access 2013 is not without consequences. What I am saying is that it seems more than a little bit disingenuous to try to make it seem like the end of productivity as you know it.

As a matter of fact, for those who have been using Access for years with your DBF files, I suggest that you can quite easily continue to do so, and add the 2013 version to your suite of tools.

Download OpenOffice.  It can work with .dbf files and its free.  Microsoft is the most arrogant company I have ever seen.  They consistently stick it to their customers and don't listen.

Actually that isn't an option for us. MS won't sell Access 2010 and won't let me downgrade an Access 2013 to 2010.

I feel the pain here, but I think there might be a bit of a problem with the statement "They should fix it to keep their promise of 'compatibility'."

I don't think MS ever promised to maintain 100% compatibility with every possible software application forever. Suggesting that they should do so with the .dbf format is an over-reach.

Another option which is 100% viable is to use Access 2010 to link to .dbf files, if that is required by your business.

George